Classic award rules and pricing

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Leroy87

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There have been a few threads around about getting wacky pricing using the multi-city tool so this is related to that but perhaps not quite the same.

I'm searching for a friend of mine who wants to travel from MEL to LHR in April next year around Easter in J (!). I've managed to find some creative ways of getting there as all the sensible routes have no availability.

What I'm wondering is, are there rules you must stay within to allow Qantas to price your ticket as a single partner award (ie. 139k)? I'm thinking things like backtracking, number of segments etc. I've made sure all the transits are under 24h and have discovered routes like:

MEL - KUL - NRT|HND - LHR
(can be found when just searching for MEL - KUL - LHR as city pairs on Qantas, so no problem with JAL married segments. In fact, it seems partners can only get space on HND - LHR when adding on a tag flight).

MEL - ADL - DOH - KWI - LHR
(I can only see this through AA search tool not Qantas, which refuses to show DOH - KWI - LHR. There seems to be wide open availability however for that route.)

MEL - PVG - LHR
Qantas won't show this as a through route though the availability is plentiful (can even get the BA flight for the second sector on some days as well). Presumably this would be the simplest to book over the phone?

Is it a case of just spending the time working the phones to get some options or are there some ground rules to follow when doing something like this?
 
You should be able to book MEL-PVG-LHR online (eg April 2 and 3) for 139,000 points and $255 in J. There is good availability throughout April but the flights are operated by China Eastern Airlines (MU).
The last J on EK looks like March 25/26 via DXB but that may be too early for you.
 
What I'm wondering is, are there rules you must stay within to allow Qantas to price your ticket as a single partner award (ie. 139k)?

You ned to be aware of witching between award tables to avoid pricing by segment. QF, EK and AA are on one table. All other airlines on another. Switch between them and they'll add up pricing pretty quick. Your example MEL-ADL-DOH for example is already using two carriers. DOH-KWI-LHR would be another new carrier (BA).

Also note the QF engine will only allow you to book two flights on any one calendar day. So a third flight will require you to call up.
 
You should be able to book MEL-PVG-LHR online (eg April 2 and 3) for 139,000 points and $255 in J. There is good availability throughout April but the flights are operated by China Eastern Airlines (MU).
The last J on EK looks like March 25/26 via DXB but that may be too early for you.

Thanks for looking at that. I'm interested in dates more around the 19th - 26th of April so a little early.

As an example of what the online engine throws up, I can see an MU flight MEL - PVG on the 22nd and then a routing PVG - ARN - LHR leaving a few hours later on the 23rd (MU and BA) which is pricing at 165,000. I assume if I called it should be 139k (and I could probably find a one stop solution as well if I looked a little harder).
 
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You ned to be aware of witching between award tables to avoid pricing by segment. QF, EK and AA are on one table. All other airlines on another. Switch between them and they'll add up pricing pretty quick. Your example MEL-ADL-DOH for example is already using two carriers. DOH-KWI-LHR would be another new carrier (BA).

Ah good pickup, I hadn't realised that adding that tag flights onto QR legs for example was stuffing up the pricing.

Out of interest, DOH - KYI - LHR was all QR as well Too much time flicking between different sites huh.

Also note the QF engine will only allow you to book two flights on any one calendar day. So a third flight will require you to call up.

This! Very helpful to be aware of such limitations - makes me more confident that I'm not breaking some obscure rule that is causing the awards to be (fairly and accurately) priced at a different amount.
 
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